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If you you've seen The Amazing Spider-Manby now, you know that one of the lingering mysteries (of the handful left dangling) has to do with a certain scene that occurred midway through the end credits.We had the chance to break that scene down with director Marc Webb at the Amazing Spider-Man press junket, discuss theories about the shadowy villain that appeared in it, and what possible implications it has for Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Needless to say, if you haven't seen the film, the topic we're going to discuss is filled with SPOILERS - so maybe you want to just head over to our Amazing Spider-Man review to get an impression of the movie as a whole. If you have seen the Spider-Man reboot for yourself, feel free to scroll down to the discussion below.

[SPOILER ALERT!]

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Amazing Spider-Man Mid-Credits Scene Discussion

The final scene of The Amazing Spider-Man sees the defeated Curt Connors/Lizard (Rhys Ifans) being locked away in a poorly-lit prison cell. Lightning flashes, and a figure (played by character actor Michael Massee) steps out of the shadows into one of the two slivers of moonlight in the room and proceeds to interrogate Connors. The mystery man wants to know if Connors told Peter the truth about his father, Richard Parker, and Connors responds that he didn't. The mystery turns to leave, exclaiming that it's fortunate Connors said nothing and that they can leave Peter alone... for now. Connors, in a noble moment, yells that Peter should be left alone for good - but lightning strikes again, and the mysterious figure vanishes just as suddenly as he appeared.

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For my money, I immediately guessed that the nature of the scene (specifically the lightning) meant that the classic Spider-Man villain Electro (see above) was being introduced into the Amazing Spider-Man cinematic universe. I went so far as to suggest that theory to director Marc Webb in our interview - and while he played coy, he was visibly delighted by the guess:

Oooo, interesting! You're the only person who's brought that up! I invite speculation, but I will not give you certainty.

Upon a followup question about whether The Amazing Spider-Man trilogy is building towards, perhaps, a saga involving the Sinister Six (Spider-Man villains teamed up as a bigger threat), Webb just let out another "Oooo," smiled knowingly, and said nothing at all. However, he did say to MTV:

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"There is a silhouette as Peter enters Oscorp on a display, which reads our founder, Norman Osborn. And there is a back-story which I will not reveal. We wanted to convey that there were more forces at work than you may have initially thought. That's all I can say about that."

Actor Rhys Ifans added:

Connors is sent to an asylum, a high-security asylum, as you would be if you threw police towers across the Brooklyn Bridge... And he's visited by, shall we say, a representative from Oscorp. How he gets into that cell and how he leaves that cell without the guards knowing? We have yet to find out."

The part about there being 'more forces than you initially thought' would suggest that there is a larger plot than the machinations of Curt Connors and Norman Osborn, as the film makes clear. The Sinister Six as a clandestine group of mad-science-meets-corporate-villainy types is easy to image in the re-imagined Spider-Man cinematic universe.

Since the time of our talk with Webb, the worldwide audience has gotten the opportunity to see The Amazing Spider-Man, and I am certainly no longer the only person to have suggested Electro as a possibility for the mystery character in the mid-credits scene. Indeed, a quick scroll through our Amazing Spider-Man Spoilers Discussion will reveal any number of fan theories on who that mystery figure is.

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First question for Spider-Man fans:

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Finally, we've compiled a list of the 10 best guesses about who the mystery character at the end of Amazing Spider-Man is. Vote for up to your 3 best guesses below:

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The Amazing Spider-Man is now in theaters. Stay tuned for more of our interviews with the cast and producers in the coming days.